Social Groups, Organizations and Collective Behavior MCQs 2026

A social group is best defined as people who

1. A Live on separate planets ✓
2. B Never interact with one another ✓
3. C Interact with shared identity and norms ✓
4. D Only share the same surname ✓

Cooley used the term primary group for relationships that are

1. A Intimate, face-to-face and enduring ✓
2. B Impersonal and contract based ✓
3. C Only electronic and anonymous ✓
4. D Temporary and without emotion ✓

A secondary group is typically characterized by

1. A Kinship and lifelong intimacy ✓
2. B Impersonal, goal-oriented relations ✓
3. C Absence of any formal purpose ✓
4. D Only emotional attachment ✓

The terms in-group and out-group are associated with

1. A Auguste Comte ✓
2. B Karl Marx ✓
3. C Ibn Khaldun ✓
4. D W. G. Sumner ✓

An out-group is a group toward which members of another group feel

1. A Distance, opposition or exclusion ✓
2. B Complete membership rights ✓
3. C Only biological similarity ✓
4. D Permanent legal ownership ✓

A reference group is one that individuals use for

1. A Measuring rainfall ✓
2. B Writing criminal law only ✓
3. C Self-evaluation and comparison ✓
4. D Counting natural resources ✓

Tonnies used Gemeinschaft to describe

1. A Modern stock exchange trading ✓
2. B Intimate traditional community ✓
3. C Purely legal bureaucracy ✓
4. D Anonymous mass media ✓

Tonnies used Gesellschaft for social relations that are

1. A Impersonal, contractual and modern ✓
2. B Always based on blood kinship ✓
3. C Limited to tribal ritual ✓
4. D Only face-to-face and emotional ✓

Weber's model of bureaucracy is based mainly on

1. A Charismatic magic only ✓
2. B Inherited clan status ✓
3. C Random personal favors ✓
4. D Rational-legal authority and rules ✓

In Weberian sociology, an ideal type is

1. A A morally perfect society ✓
2. B An analytical model emphasizing key features ✓
3. C A legal person without faults ✓
4. D A statistical census category only ✓

The iron law of oligarchy is associated with

1. A Emile Durkheim ✓
2. B Herbert Spencer ✓
3. C Robert Michels ✓
4. D George Herbert Mead ✓

A formal organization is

1. A A deliberately created group for specific goals ✓
2. B Only a crowd in a market ✓
3. C A rumor without members ✓
4. D A family meal only ✓

Informal organization within a workplace refers to

1. A Official job descriptions only ✓
2. B Written rules passed by parliament ✓
3. C The tax code of the state ✓
4. D Unofficial networks and relationships ✓

Bureaucratic hierarchy means that an organization has

1. A No levels of authority ✓
2. B A clear chain of command ✓
3. C Only temporary crowds ✓
4. D No written offices ✓

Division of labour in organizations means

1. A Specialization of tasks and roles ✓
2. B Absence of all authority ✓
3. C Only family-based membership ✓
4. D Complete rejection of efficiency ✓

Merit-based recruitment in bureaucracy means selection according to

1. A Kinship closeness ✓
2. B Personal friendship only ✓
3. C Technical competence and qualifications ✓
4. D Random crowd pressure ✓

Goal displacement in bureaucracy occurs when

1. A Goals are achieved perfectly ✓
2. B Informal ties disappear ✓
3. C Leaders resign voluntarily ✓
4. D Rules become ends in themselves ✓

Organizational alienation refers to a feeling of

1. A Physical hunger only ✓
2. B Powerlessness or estrangement from work ✓
3. C Automatic promotion ✓
4. D Complete ownership of rules ✓

Primary relations are most clearly found in

1. A Anonymous railway crowds ✓
2. B Large tax departments only ✓
3. C Family and close friendship circles ✓
4. D Temporary online advertisements ✓

A crowd is generally a

1. A Temporary gathering in physical proximity ✓
2. B Permanent kinship system ✓
3. C Formal written constitution ✓
4. D Census of all citizens ✓

In collective behavior, a public is best described as

1. A A kinship lineage ✓
2. B A dispersed group discussing an issue ✓
3. C A prison population only ✓
4. D A biological race category ✓

A mass in sociology commonly refers to

1. A A small face-to-face family ✓
2. B A rural caste council ✓
3. C A legal court bench ✓
4. D A large anonymous audience ✓

Collective behavior is usually described as

1. A Relatively spontaneous and weakly structured action ✓
2. B Routine activity under a fixed job chart ✓
3. C Only hereditary succession ✓
4. D A private biological reflex ✓

A rumor is best defined as

1. A An audited legal document ✓
2. B A permanent caste rank ✓
3. C Unverified information spread informally ✓
4. D A formal appointment letter ✓

A fad is a

1. A Permanent legal system ✓
2. B Short-lived popular enthusiasm ✓
3. C Fixed biological instinct ✓
4. D Kinship rule of descent ✓

Fashion refers to

1. A A socially approved style for a period ✓
2. B A criminal court sentence ✓
3. C The absence of social norms ✓
4. D A hereditary political office ✓

Panic is a form of collective behavior marked by

1. A Careful bureaucratic planning ✓
2. B Routine merit recruitment ✓
3. C Stable kinship inheritance ✓
4. D Fearful reaction to imminent threat ✓

Le Bon's crowd theory is commonly linked with the idea of

1. A Formal merit appointment ✓
2. B Rational-legal authority ✓
3. C Contagion and collective mind ✓
4. D Role-set analysis ✓

Convergence theory of crowds argues that crowd action occurs because

1. A People lose all prior beliefs ✓
2. B Like-minded individuals come together ✓
3. C Rules are written by judges ✓
4. D Organizations are always democratic ✓

Emergent norm theory explains crowd behavior by saying that

1. A New norms arise in ambiguous situations ✓
2. B Crowds never develop rules ✓
3. C Only heredity controls crowds ✓
4. D Every crowd is a formal organization ✓

A social movement is best defined as

1. A A single accidental gathering ✓
2. B A private family ceremony ✓
3. C A routine office file ✓
4. D A sustained collective effort for social change ✓

A reform movement seeks

1. A Total destruction of society ✓
2. B Limited change within the existing system ✓
3. C Only biological change ✓
4. D No public support at all ✓

A revolutionary movement aims at

1. A Minor adjustment in office hours ✓
2. B Keeping every institution unchanged ✓
3. C Fundamental transformation of the social order ✓
4. D Only changing personal fashion ✓

A resistance or reactionary movement generally tries to

1. A Resist change or restore earlier arrangements ✓
2. B Increase bureaucratic paperwork only ✓
3. C Measure only census income ✓
4. D Abolish all social identity ✓

Resource mobilization theory stresses the importance of

1. A Dreams and astrology only ✓
2. B Organization, leadership and material resources ✓
3. C Climate alone ✓
4. D Inherited caste rank only ✓

Relative deprivation theory links protest to

1. A Perfect satisfaction with conditions ✓
2. B Absence of expectations ✓
3. C Only biological instinct ✓
4. D Perceived gaps between expectations and reality ✓

New social movements commonly emphasize issues such as

1. A Only feudal land tax ✓
2. B Only dynastic succession ✓
3. C Identity, environment and rights ✓
4. D Only office filing systems ✓

Mobilization in a social movement means

1. A Converting resources and support into action ✓
2. B Ending all leadership structures ✓
3. C Removing public claims ✓
4. D Holding only private ceremonies ✓

Framing in social movement analysis refers to

1. A Building wooden windows ✓
2. B Shaping meanings to gain support ✓
3. C Counting family members only ✓
4. D Punishing court witnesses ✓

Charismatic authority rests on followers' belief in a leader's

1. A Inherited tax record ✓
2. B Written file number ✓
3. C Routine office seniority ✓
4. D Extraordinary personal qualities ✓

Traditional authority is based mainly on

1. A The sanctity of custom and tradition ✓
2. B Technical examination scores only ✓
3. C Temporary crowd emotion ✓
4. D Newspaper rumors only ✓

Rational-legal authority depends on

1. A Sacred kinship only ✓
2. B Personal charm alone ✓
3. C Rules, laws and offices ✓
4. D Rumor and panic ✓

Merton's concept of role set means

1. A All citizens in a country ✓
2. B Multiple role relationships attached to one status ✓
3. C Only biological sex categories ✓
4. D A list of natural resources ✓

A status set refers to

1. A Only one role expectation ✓
2. B A crowd without identity ✓
3. C A rule of crowd panic ✓
4. D All statuses occupied by a person ✓

Role conflict occurs when

1. A All expectations are identical ✓
2. B Expectations from different statuses clash ✓
3. C A person has no social status ✓
4. D A crowd has no physical location ✓

Role strain means tension caused by

1. A Having no role expectations ✓
2. B Changing fashion trends ✓
3. C Only criminal punishment ✓
4. D Conflicting demands within one status ✓

Groupthink refers to a situation in which

1. A No group decision is possible ✓
2. B Members never meet each other ✓
3. C Rules are set only by courts ✓
4. D Pressure for consensus weakens critical judgment ✓

A social network is best understood as

1. A A prison sentence ✓
2. B A type of rainfall ✓
3. C A web of social ties among actors ✓
4. D A purely biological organ ✓

Coalition in collective action forms when

1. A they never cooperate ✓
2. B only families exist ✓
3. C groups unite around a common short-term goal ✓
4. D only bureaucracy bans alliances ✓

Collective behaviour differs from organized group action because it is often

1. A always written in bylaws ✓
2. B never emotional ✓
3. C always permanent ✓
4. D spontaneous, loosely structured and emotionally charged ✓

Bureaucratic ritualism is Merton's mode where

1. A innovators break all law ✓
2. B retreatists abandon society ✓
3. C rebels overthrow system ✓
4. D officials cling to rules even when goals are not served ✓

Virtual communities are

1. A online groups interacting through digital platforms ✓
2. B impossible with internet ✓
3. C only face-to-face villages ✓
4. D only printed books without readers ✓

Social capital in groups refers to

1. A only financial bank capital ✓
2. B only factory machines ✓
3. C only police weapons ✓
4. D networks of trust and reciprocity enabling cooperation ✓

Iron law of oligarchy (Michels) suggests

1. A perfect democracy in all parties forever ✓
2. B large organizations tend to concentrate power in a small leadership ✓
3. C no leaders ever emerge ✓
4. D members always control everything ✓

Goal displacement occurs when

1. A an organization pursues means or side goals over original mission ✓
2. B it always stays perfectly focused ✓
3. C rules never expand ✓
4. D leaders never seek survival ✓

Organization culture means

1. A only the building architecture ✓
2. B shared values, norms and practices within a workplace ✓
3. C only government GDP ✓
4. D only random individuals without patterns ✓

Deindividuation in crowds refers to

1. A heightened personal responsibility always ✓
2. B reduced self-awareness and increased conformity to group norms ✓
3. C complete isolation ✓
4. D only bureaucratic record-keeping ✓

Leadership in crowds can be

1. A only pre-elected for years ✓
2. B impossible in any gathering ✓
3. C emergent when individuals gain influence during events ✓
4. D only hereditary kings in mobs ✓

Panics as collective behaviour involve

1. A rapid fearful dispersion in response to perceived threat ✓
2. B calm structured meetings ✓
3. C slow bureaucratic filing ✓
4. D only long-term planning ✓

Free rider problem in movements occurs when

1. A everyone always pays dues ✓
2. B people benefit without contributing effort or risk ✓
3. C coordination is costless ✓
4. D groups never need resources ✓

Interest group differs from social movement by often being

1. A always violent mobs ✓
2. B more institutionalized and narrowly focused on policy lobbying ✓
3. C always spontaneous crowds ✓
4. D without any organization ✓

Pakistan's social movements include examples such as

1. A zero civic mobilization ever ✓
2. B only foreign movements ✓
3. C only prehistoric tribes ✓
4. D labour unions, women's rights campaigns and environmental activism ✓

Civil disobedience is

1. A public, nonviolent breach of law to challenge injustice ✓
2. B secret violent plots only ✓
3. C obedience to all laws always ✓
4. D only private grumbling ✓

A riot is collective violence by a group against

1. A persons or property, often expressing grievance ✓
2. B only solo meditation ✓
3. C only corporate annual reports ✓
4. D only scheduled exams ✓

A mob is a crowd that

1. A always follows parliamentary procedure ✓
2. B becomes emotionally charged and may engage in volatile or violent action ✓
3. C never experiences emotion ✓
4. D only reads quietly ✓

A crowd is

1. A a formal organization with bylaws ✓
2. B a temporary gathering in physical proximity with interaction ✓
3. C only mailed newsletters ✓
4. D only census categories ✓

Collective behaviour involves

1. A only formal board meetings ✓
2. B only written constitutions ✓
3. C only permanent bureaucracies ✓
4. D relatively spontaneous, unstructured action by large numbers ✓

Milgram's obedience studies demonstrated

1. A nobody obeys instructions ✓
2. B only rebels always ✓
3. C people may follow authority even when asked to harm others ✓
4. D authority has zero power ✓

Group conformity experiments (Asch) showed

1. A people never yield to groups ✓
2. B groups have no influence ✓
3. C individuals often align with incorrect majority judgments ✓
4. D only experts resist all pressure ✓

In-group favoritism can lead to

1. A discrimination against out-group members ✓
2. B perfect equality always ✓
3. C zero bias in hiring ✓
4. D only legal neutrality always ✓

Voluntary association is joined

1. A only by birth ascribed status ✓
2. B only by prison sentence ✓
3. C without coercion, to pursue shared interests ✓
4. D only by royal decree ✓

McDonaldization (Ritzer) describes

1. A unique craft production only ✓
2. B efficiency, calculability, predictability and control in modern institutions ✓
3. C random unmeasured service ✓
4. D only prehistoric barter ✓

Human relations school criticized bureaucracy for ignoring

1. A all human feelings ✓
2. B technology entirely ✓
3. C informal groups and employee morale ✓
4. D written rules always ✓

Division of labour in organizations

1. A requires everyone to do identical jobs ✓
2. B eliminates all coordination ✓
3. C assigns specialized tasks to increase efficiency ✓
4. D only applies to families ✓

Hierarchy in organizations means

1. A flat chaos without leaders ✓
2. B ranked authority levels with chain of command ✓
3. C only friendship without power ✓
4. D only random rotation always ✓

Protest cycles include stages of

1. A emergence, coalescence, bureaucratization and decline ✓
2. B instant permanent victory always ✓
3. C no leadership ever ✓
4. D only spontaneous eternity ✓

Framing in social movements means

1. A hiding all goals ✓
2. B presenting issues to resonate with public values and meanings ✓
3. C avoiding communication ✓
4. D only using violence ✓

New social movements (NSMs) often focus on

1. A identity, environment and quality-of-life issues beyond class alone ✓
2. B only factory wages exclusively ✓
3. C only prehistoric hunting ✓
4. D only military coups ✓

Resource mobilization theory explains movements through

1. A only individual frustration without organization ✓
2. B access to money, leadership, media and networks ✓
3. C only random emotion ✓
4. D only biological instinct ✓

Social movement is

1. A organized sustained collective action to promote or resist change ✓
2. B a momentary fad only ✓
3. C a single person's diary ✓
4. D only government bureaucracy ✓

Mass society theory worried that

1. A everyone has strong primary ties in cities ✓
2. B large-scale institutions isolate atomized individuals ✓
3. C bureaucracy never exists ✓
4. D groups always cohesive ✓

Weber warned bureaucracy's iron cage could trap people in

1. A pure spontaneous joy always ✓
2. B pre-modern enchantment forever ✓
3. C rationalized, dehumanizing routine ✓
4. D zero rules ✓

Charismatic authority derives from

1. A bureaucratic manuals only ✓
2. B routine election cycles only ✓
3. C exceptional qualities attributed to a leader by followers ✓
4. D impersonal rules alone ✓

Weber contrasted traditional authority based on

1. A written constitutions only ✓
2. B elections only ✓
3. C scientific experiments ✓
4. D custom and longstanding patterns ✓

Weber's rational-legal authority rests on

1. A traditional customs only ✓
2. B personal hero worship only ✓
3. C random violence ✓
4. D belief in legality of enacted rules and offices ✓

Bureaucracy, in Weber's ideal type, features

1. A hierarchy, written rules, impersonality and specialized roles ✓
2. B pure charisma without rules ✓
3. C random decisions without records ✓
4. D only kinship favouritism ✓

Formal organization is

1. A only a chance crowd ✓
2. B only a family picnic without rules ✓
3. C only natural ecosystems ✓
4. D a deliberately constructed group with rules and goals ✓

Goals of formal organizations include

1. A only chaos ✓
2. B efficiency, predictability and coordination of tasks ✓
3. C only avoiding all division of labour ✓
4. D only destroying records ✓

A triad is

1. A only two members ✓
2. B only mass society ✓
3. C only virtual bots ✓
4. D a three-person group that can form coalitions ✓

A dyad is

1. A a two-person group ✓
2. B a hundred-person rally ✓
3. C only organizations ✓
4. D only nations ✓

Group size affects interaction because

1. A size never matters ✓
2. B all groups have identical dynamics ✓
3. C small groups allow intimate ties; large groups need formal structure ✓
4. D only pairs can exist ✓

Reference groups are

1. A only groups one has left ✓
2. B only imaginary numbers ✓
3. C only geological strata ✓
4. D groups used as standards for evaluating oneself ✓

Out-groups are

1. A always identical to in-group ✓
2. B only primary families ✓
3. C groups perceived as different or competing with one's own ✓
4. D only bureaucracies ✓

In-groups are groups

1. A always hated by the member ✓
2. B only out-groups ✓
3. C to which a person belongs and identifies ✓
4. D only foreign nations always ✓

Cooley's primary groups provide

1. A only stock market data ✓
2. B only military orders without feeling ✓
3. C only anonymous statistics ✓
4. D socialization, emotional support and sense of self ✓

Secondary groups are characterized by

1. A impersonal, goal-oriented and often temporary relationships ✓
2. B deep emotional bonds in all cases ✓
3. C only lifelong kinship ✓
4. D only sacred rituals ✓

Primary groups are characterized by

1. A impersonal short-term contact ✓
2. B only contractual ties ✓
3. C only anonymous markets ✓
4. D intimate, face-to-face, enduring relationships ✓

A social group is

1. A two or more people who interact and share a sense of belonging ✓
2. B any crowd in a stadium without interaction ✓
3. C only people who never meet ✓
4. D only biological species ✓